DMV News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
DMV Offers Good Luck to Spiders and Rams Basketball!
Fans Reminded University Special Plates Show School Spirit
RICHMOND - As fans rally behind the two Virginia college basketball programs advancing to the "Sweet 16" in the NCAA tournament this weekend, the Department of Motor Vehicles reminds fans of an easy way to support the University of Richmond or Virginia Commonwealth University and show school pride -- with a custom license plate bearing logos of either school.
"Virginia is the center of the universe for college basketball fans right now," said Richard D. Holcomb, DMV Commissioner and alumnus of the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law. "Everywhere I go, I hear the pride and excitement of Virginians following both VCU and UR teams. DMV joins in that enthusiasm and wishes both teams success in their next games Friday night."
DMV offers special plates for nearly all Virginia colleges and universities. The plates are revenue sharing, which means a portion of the plate price goes to the school for scholarship programs. The cost for a college special plate is $25 per year in addition to vehicle registration fees. Of the $25 fee, $15 is distributed to the university. A portion of the fee may be tax deductible. In 14 years, since the first UR plate was offered, DMV has distributed more $191,000 to the university. In 12 years, DMV has distributed more than $131,000 to VCU from university plate sales.
"I've seen news reports that VCU and UR T-shirts and memorabilia are flying off bookstore shelves. No need to worry about running out of plates -- we'll make more and, for an additional $10, customize your plate for you, too."
Fans of each school have two designs from which to choose. VCU offers the school seal and the Ram; UR offers the school crest and the spider. Currently, 1,251 registered vehicles bear one of the VCU special plates and 1,349 vehicles display UR plates.
"The success of these two Virginia basketball programs will be forever etched in sports history books," Holcomb said. "We're proud our special plates program can support Virginia colleges and universities, as well as provide fans of the schools a way to show their support, too."
